MBK is a head-spinning, 7-storey monster of a shopping mall, with shops selling everything from clothes and gadgets to gold and souvenirs. The legendary shopping mall might look rather chaotic at a first glance, but the different floors are subdivided into different sections making the mall surprisingly easy to navigate.
Authentic products are displayed right next to counterfeit goods, so watch out and use your common sense. International brands are not particularly cheaper in Thailand than in Europe or the US, so if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If asked directly, the vendors are usually honest regarding whether it’s a fake or the real deal.
Regarding bargaining, most of the shops that look like proper shops (glass fronts, air conditioning etc.) operate with fixed prices, but the smaller shops and stalls usually expect (and encourage) you to enter into some serious haggling to get a good price.
MBK is not the best place to go shopping for clothes and fashion items, but the mall has a decent selection of shops with clothes in Western sizes.
Because MBK is popular among tourists, things are more expensive than at similar, more fashionable places such as Terminal 21 and Asiatique. Though one thing to love about MBK is that it is so easily accessible. From National Stadium BTS station, you turn right and walk through Tokyu Department store for direct access to the 2nd floor in MBK.
There’s a really nice food court on the 6th floor (not to be mistaken by the more expensive Fifth Food Avenue on the 5th floor) with stalls selling tasty and inexpensive food.
There are also a number of massage shops and hair salons in MBK, and especially the hair salons are infamous for their very insisting style of upselling. Maybe the haircut is only 300THB, but you will most likely be asked to buy a much more expensive hair treatment on top of that. And you will be asked again and again throughout your visit, which can be really annoying.
MBK is open each day from 10am to 10pm, but the individual shops may have different hours of operation and on less busy days, most of the shops will start closing down before 7pm.
MBK, 444 Phayathai Rd, Pathumwan, Bangkok
